By Mike Hardiman
Special to Stampeders.com

The Pregame

Things don’t get any easier for the Calgary Stampeders this week as they travel to B.C. to take on the Lions.

Calgary (5-1) moved into a tie for first place with Saskatchewan last week after snapping the Roughriders’ five-game winning streak with a 42-27 win at McMahon.  The victory was Calgary’s fourth straight and leaves the team with the longest current win streak in the CFL.

The Lions (4-2) got back on the winning track with a 27-20 win over the Bombers in Week 6 and currently sit third in the West.

The two teams met at McMahon in Week 1 with the Stamps beating up on the Leos by a 44-32 score. The two teams meet four times this year so a win by Calgary this week would really put the heat on the Lions to win the last two games (Week 16 and Week 19) for any tie-breaker scenarios at season’s end.

The Lions are 3-0 at home this year and are 15-1 at B.C. place since it was renovated back in 2011. BC is currently on a nine-game winning streak at home and included in that streak is a 27-22 win over Calgary in Week 15 last season.

The Stamps are 4-2 in their past six games played in Vancouver but the Lions have won the two most recent contests.  Five of those six games have been decided by less than a touchdown and the average margin of victory was 4.8 points. Calgary is 2-1 on the road and 2-1 against the West so far while the Lions are also 2-1 against the West. 

The Kickoff

When/Where: Saturday, Aug, 17 at 7 p.m. MDT at B.C. Place in Vancouver
Television: TSN Friday Night Football, ESPN3
Radio: News Talk 770, Sirius Satellite Channel 157, XM Satellite Channel 160
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders 

Calgary’s offence was in fine form in the win over the Riders, scoring 42 points and totalling 429 yards. Those were both the second-best totals of the season and the Stamps also racked up a season-best 29 first downs.

Calgary got out to a fast start as well, building a 13-0 first quarter lead, the second-best opening quarter lead of the season. Calgary has outscored their opponents 47-41 in the first quarter this season, but that stat is 47-17 when you take out the first quarter against Montreal in Week 3.

The Stamps cleaned up their penalties from the week before, getting flagged seven times after taking 12 penalties against Winnipeg. They’ve taken 27 penalties in their past three games compared to just 12 in the first three.

SB Nik Lewis led the way with seven catches for 96 yards and a touchdown, with season highs for catches and yardage. Lewis is eighth in the CFL in receiving with 31 catches for 381 yards and three major scores.

Calgary’s defence gave up 27 points and 438 yards of offence in the win, the highest net yardage they have allowed this season. Calgary now averages 414.5 yards of offence allowed in two games against the Riders but only 284.5 yards against other opponents. The Stamps surrendered 313 yards of offence to the Lions in Week 1.

DT Demonte’ Bolden had two sacks in the win last week while MLB Juwan Simpson registered four tackles and a forced fumble. 

Who to watch:          

Jon Cornish, RB, #9
2013 stats – 93 carries, 676 yards rushing, 7.3 yard average, 7 rushing TDs – 2nd in CFL rushing; on pace for more than 2,000 rushing yards
Last Week – 16 carries, 175 yards, 10.9 yard average, 4 TDs versus Sask – season high in rushing yards, career high in rushing TDs; named CFL Offensive and Canadian Player of the Week
2013 vs BC – 24 carries, 172 yards, 7.1-yard average, 2 TDs in Week 1

Kevin Glenn, QB, #15
2013 stats – 90 attempts, 65 completions, 72.2% completion rate, 731 passing yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs, 98.0 QB rating in three starts (3-0 record in those games)
Last Week – 28 attempts, 21 completions, 75.5% completion rate, 218 passing yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 108.9 QB rating
2012 vs BC – 45 attempts, 29 completions, 64.4% completion rate, 418 passing yards, 1 TD, 1 INT in two games played           

Maurice Price, WR, #17
2013 stats – 16 receptions, 162 yards, 10.1 yard average, 1 TD in three games
Last Week – 5 receptions, 46 yards, 9.2 yard average, 0 TDs – returned after missing three games
2013 vs BC – 6 receptions, 77 yards, 12.8 yards average, 1 TD in Week 1

Charleston Hughes, DE, #39
2013 stats – 15 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 tackle for loss, 2 forced fumbles in four games  – 4th in CFL in sacks
Last Week – 3 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble – returned after missing two games
2013 vs BC – 4 tackles, 3 sacks in Week 1

Karl McCartney, LB, #45
2013 stats – 9 tackles, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery, 1 tackle for loss, 1 pass knockdown, 9 special teams tackles
Last Week  – 4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery – second straight game with at least four tackles
2013 vs BC – 4 special teams tackles in Week 1

The Lions                                                                                   

The Lions are off to a solid 4-2 start, but have been overshadowed by the fast starts of both Calgary and Saskatchewan in the West.

BC has fallen off statistically a bit from the numbers posted on offence in 2012 when the Lions finished first overall in the CFL, with two categories really standing out — giveaways and sacks allowed. The Lions were first in giveaways with only 23 all of last season but have 14 after just six games in 2013. And, after giving up only 30 sacks last season, the Lions have surrendered 16 already thus far in 2013.

The Lions’ rebuilt receiving corps is dangerous and is led by Emmanuel Arceneaux (#84), who has 384 receiving yards and three touchdowns. SB Nick Moore (#17) and WR Courtney Taylor (#86) are having fine first seasons in as full-time starters.

On defence, the Lions are slowly returning to their league-leading form of last year and the strength of the unit is the veteran secondary featuring CB Dante Marsh (#31), DB Ryan Phillips (#21) and DB Korey Banks (#24). 

Who to watch:

Travis Lulay, QB, #14
2013 stats – 180 attempts, 119 completions, 66.1% completion rate, 1,468 passing yards, 10 TDs, 4 INTs, 100.4 QB rating
Last Game– 39 attempts, 28 completions, 71.7% completion rate, 268 passing yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 116.2 QB rating versus Winnipeg in Week 6
2013 vs Calgary – 36 attempts, 21 completions, 58.3% completion rate, 283 passing yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 99.7 QB rating in Week 1

Andrew Harris, RB, #33
2013 stats – 108 touches, 648 yards from scrimmage, 5 total TDs – 3rd  in CFL rushing; leads team in receptions with 25
Last Game – 13 carries, 56 yards, 4.3 yard average, 0 TDs; 4 receptions for 25 yards vs Winnipeg in Week 6
2013 vs Calgary – 5 carries, 20 yards, 4.0 yard average, 0 TDs in Week 1

Solomon Elimimian, LB, #56
2013 stats – 29 tackles, 1 INT, 2 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble – 8th in CFL in tackles
Last Game  – 3 tackles, 1 INT, 1 forced fumble vs Winnipeg in Week 6
2013 vs Calgary – did not play in Week 1            

Stats

Here are the two teams’ offensive and defensive totals and league rankings after last week’s games

The CFL this Week

Friday, Aug. 16, 6 p.m. – Hamilton (2-4) at Winnipeg (1-5)
Saturday, Aug. 17, 2 p.m. – Montreal (2-4) at Saskatchewan (5-1)
Sunday, Aug. 18, 5:00 p.m. – Edmonton (1-5) at Toronto (4-2)